Inmate gives birth in Polk County Jail

12:26 AM,
Sep. 5, 2013

Written by

The Des Moines Register

An inmate gave birth behind bars last week after she was sent back to the Polk County Jail from a local hospital.

It was the first time in recent memory that a baby has been born in the jail, which officials said maintains a policy for pregnant women to be transferred to a hospital to give birth.

Ieasha Lenise Meyers, 25, of Des Moines was assessed at a local hospital, which decided to send her back to the jail, where she gave birth Aug. 29 in the medical holding area, said Sgt. Brent Long, a Polk County sheriff's spokesman. ...